It's Not a Secret
by dannyghost
Summary: One-Shot. During the events of Bitter Reunions, Tucker goes to Sam's house for movie night, and Sam decides to finally open up to Tucker (with forced persuasion) about her not-so-secret crush on the obliviously clueless Danny. Bickering ensues.


**Hello! Long time no see!**

 **I know I haven't written in a while for my other stories, but I promise, I will continue them, I just had a bit of writer's block and I ended up writing this. This story was inspired by the episode Attack of the Killer Garage Sale, where Tucker and Sam were at Sam's house while Danny was off at Dash's party, and I found it really funny, and I thought that I could add to that.**

 **In this one-shot, this takes place during the episode Bitter Reunions in season 1 when Danny goes on a family trip to Wisconsin and meets Vlad for the first time. Coincidentally, this episode is the only episode where Sam and Tucker are absent. So I thought, what would they be doing while Danny's away? Jazz mentions in the episode that they are gone for 4 days, so, this scene takes place during that time.**

 **I just thought that Sam and Tucker needed a little love since there isn't that much stories about them. I guess I tried to make Tucker as annoying as possible. Whoops. Here it is!**

* * *

Sam Manson grinned as she heard the doorbell ring at her front door. She didn't even have to guess who it was to know who exactly was in front of her house at 10 o'clock at night– Tucker, of course. She was glad he came, because otherwise she'd probably have to spend more 'family bonding time' with her parents over monopoly game night. She shuddered at the thought of last Friday, and suddenly felt thankful for the fact that her parents were out of town for the night. Business dinners between rich people mattered heavily, apparently.

"Hey Tucker!" she greeted, swinging the door open for him as he strolled inside with a lopsided smile on his face. He looked around Sam's front hall, and found himself wondering for the second time what it was that the deli toothpick cellophane twirling device heiress spent her time doing all day in her mansion.

Tucker frowned. "Hey. I just had a thought. If Danny can overshadow people with his ghost powers, then do you think he can possess other ghosts?" he asked curiously.

"How would I know, Tucker? Why don't you ask Danny himself?" She responded, titling her head in confusion. She shut the door behind him, and stood there with her eyebrows raised, giving Tucker a look.

"Good point."

Sam laughed and then abruptly stopped herself. "Where is Danny anyway?"

"Umm… surprise family road trip to Wisconsin? I think. He said something about a college reunion and his dad's friend Vlad who hates him…" Tucker trailed off thoughtfully. "Then he said something about ghost vultures out to get his dad...? I mean, I wasn't really listening when he told me over the phone, but that's what I got from it."

"He can handle it," Sam replied, crossing her arms. Tucker shrugged.

"Hope so. Did you preorder the new Dracula vs. Werewolf Quadruple Assassination Killer IV?" he asked excitedly, following Sam further into the front hall.

She frowned. "Huh?"

"I asked you last week when Danny and I said that we were coming over to yours for movie night– well, before he ended up going to Wisconsin–and you agreed, don't you remember?" he responded, as Sam led them downstairs to the basement. When she didn't respond, Tucker paused.

"You don't remember, do you?"

Sam let out an exasperated sigh. "Tucker, I was so sick that week, the only thing on my mind was wondering when my next serving of medicine was needed."

"I know, because I got your cold just after you did, after Danny caught the cold from you and I caught his," Tucker said with a grin.

"Yeah," Sam said with a snort. "I mean, I wouldn't have even remembered if you told me you were, like, possessed by a ghost or something," she said jokingly, as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Tucker laughed at her joke, but stopped short when he realized that her statement was actually sort of true. He never actually did tell her about the whole Desiree thing a few days ago. "Funny story about that actually…" he trailed off, which then led to a short pause.

Sam lifted an eyebrow. "Well?" she asked expectantly. "Go on," she motioned, as she took a seat down on the theatre chair. Tucker plopped down next to her, and fiddled with his PDA in his hands.

"Actually, wait, I'll just get the popcorn and drinks while you tell me," Sam suggested, getting up from her seat to walk over to the popcorn machine.

Tucker cringed. "Okay, well, don't freak out, but there was this wish granting ghost called Desiree, and I, uh, kinda-sorta-wished that I had ghost powers because I got jealous of Danny's ghost powers, and then I uh, somehow kinda turned into an evil ghost filled with jealousy that Danny had to defeat–"

"Wait, what–" Sam interrupted, nearly dropping the half filled popcorn bag, but he shushed her, continuing.

"–But it's okay now because he defeated Desiree and my evil monster ghost self using the Fenton Ghost Catcher, and then Danny caught your cold, and then I caught his cold and then we were both sick but now everything's okay!" Tucker finished quickly, dismissing his own story by waving his hand around as if to prove that it wasn't that big of a deal. "Hey, can I have some of that?" he asked as an afterthought, gesturing to the popcorn bag in Sam's hands.

Sam stared at him in agape as she handed him the popcorn. "Okay, first off, wow. Second of all, if we didn't live in a ghost-infested town, I probably wouldn't believe you, but I do, and third of all, why didn't you tell me?"

"...Because you were grossly sick and I didn't want to bother you?" Tucker guessed with a mouthful of popcorn.

He was met with a glare from Sam, but after some silence, her glare softened, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well, I'm glad you're both okay, at least."

Tucker smiled triumphantly. "Me too. Being sick is so not my style. How am I supposed to get any pretty ladies while looking like a snotty mess coughing everywhere? Glad that's over."

"Tucker." Sam said sweetly, clasping her hands together. "You wouldn't get any 'pretty ladies' either way, even if you weren't sick." she reminded, and Tucker pouted, looking offended.

"Aaaaaaanyway," he drawled, obviously changing the subject in his defeat. "What movie do you want to watch?"

"Anything with horror, gore, blood and guts, I'm all for it." Sam declared, pointing to the horror movie section of her DVD collection. There were at least hundreds of DVDs of all genres in neat rows on shelves upon shelves. Tucker wondered if Sam had even watched every movie that she owned– probably not.

"I've got it!" Tucker announced, jumping out of his seat to the DVD shelves, as bits of popcorn landed on his seat.

"Which one?"

"Night of the Zombie Mutant Children Undead 4!" he replied, happily holding up the DVD case with a childish grin.

Sam wasn't impressed. "Tucker, the third movie was a total flop, not to mention the poor storyline in the original! Why would the fourth one be any better?" She countered, and Tucker dejectedly lowered the DVD, disappointed in her reaction.

"Oh come on, Sam, it hasn't even come out worldwide in theatres yet! I don't even know how you have it on DVD already, but hey, I'm not questioning!"

"Neither do I." Sam said dismissively as she filled up the second cup with soda.

"So you don't want to see it?" Tucker asked.

"Nope," she replied, popping the p. She closed the lid of the cup and stuck the straw in it before handing it to Tucker. "I'll just preorder Dracula vs. Werewolf Quadruple Assassination Killer IV right now."

"Alright," Tucker agreed.

Sam pulled out her cellphone and began to press the digits on her keypad quickly. How her orders came so fast, Tucker may never know, but since it got her whatever she wanted in mere seconds, he wasn't going to question that either.

"Done!" she called, and with a popcorn and soda in hand, she slid into the other recliner chair beside Tucker. "It'll come in a few."

"Sweet." replied Tucker, and then there became an awkward silence between the two. Tucker noticed it first, but then a sly smile replaced his features. He found the perfect thing to finally bring up.

"Soooooo," he drawled, and rested his elbow lazily on the armrests.

"So?" Sam repeated.

"Got any… _gossip_ you'd like to share?" he prompted, sounding genuinely interested.

"What?" Sam said with a laugh. "Why are you asking me this?"

Tucker's smile grew with maliciousness. "Why do you sound so nervous? Is there something you're _hiding_?" he asked quickly, resting both elbows on his knees like a schoolgirl.

"Tucker, I'm not hiding anything," Sam said levelly, beginning to get annoyed.

"That's what a person who's hiding something would say."

Sam sighed. "What's this about Tucker?" she asked, and Tucker only made an excited squeal sound in response. "Spit it out!" she demanded, raising her hands up in the air.

"Okay, okay!" he said, trying to calm himself down so he wouldn't get a combat boot to the face. "I," he began dramatically, "...have a theory."

"What theory?" Sam asked slowly. She had no idea what Tucker was trying to get at, and frankly, she was confused. She took a sip of her soda, because for some reason Tucker was taking his time with sharing his "theory" and–

"You _like_ someone." Tucker accused.

Sam took a spit take, spraying the carpet with her drink. Her eyes widened for a split second, and then once she forcibly regained her composure, narrowed her eyes in anger to appear threatening in hopes that Tucker didn't take her reaction the wrong way.

Too late.

"Wh–what?! Why would you think that? I, I don't like anyone! What are you talking about, Tucker? I don't even know what you're talking about!" Sam spluttered quickly, tripping on her own words, but Tucker had his answer as soon as he saw the red beginning to creep up on her cheeks.

Tucker smiled devilishly. "You do. And think I know who it is!" He declared, facing the angry goth.

Sam's face deadpanned, and she swallowed nervously. She hated being put on the spot. "Tucker, I don't like anyone," she repeated. Tucker wasn't convinced. "Seriously!" she tried.

"Lying is bad for you, Sam!" Tucker sang, and Sam threw her popcorn at him, stopping him from continuing.

"Tucker, can you drop this? I–"

"Nope. Not until you admit it."

"Uh… um," she began, but she was thankfully saved by the doorbell. Her face brightened. "Oh! I think the movie delivered!" Sam said with fake enthusiasm, running up the stairs to the front door. With the chance that she was given to change the subject, she was about ready to hug the delivery man in thankfulness.

"You can't hide from the truth, Sam!" Tucker called, shoving popcorn into his mouth.

He waited about a minute, until Sam came back, trudging down the stairs with her heavy combat boots each making a thud. She reached the bottom of the steps and had the DVD in her hands and smiled as she lifted it up victoriously. "Got the movie. Now we can finally watch Dracula vs. Werewolf Quadruple Assassination Kill–"

"Not before you tell me who it is that you like," Tucker interrupted, and was met with a glare.

"You're not going to drop this, are you?" Sam asks, sagging her shoulders.

Tucker took a sip of his drink. "Nope."

Sam sighed, and placed the DVD case on the coffee table. "You'll stop if I tell you?" she questioned, and Tucker nodded. Sam paused. "Wait, I thought you said you know who it is?" she wondered.

"I have a theory on who it is. I just want to see if I'm right. You already proved that you do in fact like someone," Tucker explained, and Sam made a noise.

"I'm gonna kick you if you don't quit it." She grit her teeth in annoyance as she pulled the DVD out of the case, and injected it into the movie system.

"I can run."

Sam crossed her arms. "You do know that you're failing P.E, right?"

"If I can run from a ghost, I can run from you," Tucker reminded, but his face suddenly straightened, with much more sincerity than before. "Come on, Sam, you can tell me! I'm your best friend! It's like, our duty to know everything about each other! You know about my secret collection of–"

"Fine! Okay, okay." Sam interrupted, cringing from the memory of his secret collection. She sat back down in her chair, and faced Tucker.

"So you're going to tell me?" he guessed.

"If you stop talking, I will."

"Yes!" Tucker fist raised, spilling popcorn from his bag. He received a glare from Sam in response, and slowly lowered his arm in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Say something annoying and I will not hesitate in using my foot, get it?" Sam threatened, and Tucker nodded with a feral grin.

"Got it."

No one said anything for a few seconds. Tucker resisted the urge to cough in case he was hit with a combat boot. Sam sighed, and met eyes with Tucker. She had to confess. All she had to do was say the name, but she couldn't. _Just say it. You can trust Tucker with this._

"It's Danny."

The room was engulfed in a heavier silence than before. It grew uncomfortable, and was left with Sam and Tucker competing in a staring match. Sam's face slowly turned red after a smile slowly began to form on Tucker's face. She swallowed.

"Well? Say something! I told you? Are you happy now?" Sam asked, but was only met with a sly grin from Tucker. "Helloooo?" she repeated, waving a hand in front of the unusually silent Tucker.

His small smile grew, bigger and bigger until he couldn't take it anymore, and he suddenly exploded with laughter. " _I KNEW IT!_ "

"What?!" Sam questioned furiously, glaring at Tucker.

"I KNEW YOU LIKED HIM FROM THE START! I WAS _SO_ RIGHT! YES!" Tucker yelled, jumping out of his seat. "You like Danny! Hah! I was right! Oh yeah!" he bragged, doing an obnoxious dance move that made Sam only angrier.

"Since when did you figure this out? And how long have you known this!" She yelled, between Tucker's guffaws of laughter and glee. She got out of her seat and loomed over Tucker as threatening as possible to get his attention from his overt laughter.

Tucker made a few exasperated breaths before answering. "Like I said before, Sam, I had a theory. I've had this theory for months now, I just wanted you to admit it now that Danny isn't here, and MAN, was I _right!_ " he explained, throwing his arms in the air. He was still standing on his chair, and Sam was still angry. Getting increasingly angry, in fact.

"Ugh! You see, this is why I didn't even want to tell you in the first place!" She seethed, but this didn't faze Tucker in the slightest. "Can you take this seriously?!"

"Why? This is gold!" Tucker breathed in between his laughter, and tried to sit back down in his seat, before doubling over with more laughter and falling out of the chair entirely. He took a few heavy breaths, and wheezed out: "Just wait until Danny gets back from Wisconsin, he's gonna have the laugh of his life–"

"No! You can't tell him!" Sam's eyes widened, interrupting the geek's laughing fest. She used a tone of voice that she had never used on Tucker before. She was in all seriousness, angry. "You can't tell Danny, not his parents, not Jazz, not even your weird nerd group that you play online games with!"

"But–"

"Tucker!" she shouted. "I'm serious! You have to promise not to tell _anybody._ "

"I–"

" _No. One._ " Sam demanded.

"Okay, okay, I won't!" Tucker agreed, covering his hands in front of his face in fear. Sam had taken threatening steps toward him and the last thing Tucker needed was a broken nose. "I won't tell anyone!" he repeated, and got up from the floor.

"You promise?" she repeated, staring Tucker in the eye.

"Yeah, yeah!"

" _Tucker._ "

"I promise."

"Good." Sam said, and smiled for the first time in minutes. She took a long breath, emptied out her anger, and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully before looking back at Tucker. "Danny doesn't need to know about this, the last thing I want is our friendship to be ruined over some stupid crush."

"Guess so," Tucker agreed, landing back on the chair. Sam's basement now looked like a popcorn-made warzone thanks to him, but Sam didn't seem to mind.

She glanced at him and frowned. "So how did you come up with this 'theory' of yours anyway?"

"Well, y'know, if you spend enough time with someone, you can see every time they blush, or flirt, or giggle or stare lovingly at your best friend. I notice things, Sam." Tucker said, and then spilled the remaining popcorn from the bag into his mouth. "Say, could you get me more popcorn?"

"Oh, shut up," Sam laughed, shoving him lightly.

"Hey, you asked! I mean, if it's this big _secret,_ then you should really try to hide it better. I don't even think that it's really that much of a secret," Tucker paused, snorting. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Danny knew!"

"Pfft. Danny's clueless." Sam reasoned.

"That's true," Tucker agreed. He began to tap his nails against the screen of his PDA in a nonsensical rhythm until an idea formed in his head. "Well, hey, I think I know what I'm gonna call you two from now on!" he exclaimed.

"No," Sam groaned, awaiting her dreaded nickname.

Tucker grinned as Sam narrowed her eyes. "Lovebirds!"

"If you say that around Danny I _will_ destroy you."

Tucker's sly grin had returned from earlier. "Too late. Just wait until he gets back from Wisconsin!"

"You promised you wouldn't tell!"

"Yeah, but I didn't say I wouldn't hint it!" Tucker teased, leaning in front of Sam's face. He then began to mockingly make kissing noises and even more irritating facial expressions as Sam's fists clenched angrily.

Sam swallowed down her anger and went for the _better_ route. "Hey Tucker? What if something were to… oh, I don't know, _accidentally_ happen to Susan?" She asked sweetly, glancing down at Tucker's cherished handheld device. This stopped him immediately.

"You wouldn't." Tucker gasped, his eyes darting down to his beloved 'Susan', who was actually his PDA. Sam had already ruined Lisa, he knew that she wasn't bluffing. He held it up against his face, cradling it protectively as Sam stalked towards him.

"I would." she said smugly.

"Okay, I get it, I get it!"

Sam smirked. "Thought so."

Tucker breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, we got the movie, what are we waiting for?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Sam said, and pressed play.

Tucker grinned. Danny was so clueless, even if it wasn't a well kept secret, he wouldn't know until he realized his own feelings himself. And who's to say that a bud can't give his friend a little push? After all, teasing best friends about their not-so-secret crushes was what best friends did. And as much as Tucker liked to annoy Sam, they wouldn't trade each other for the world.

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 **Sorry if it came out a little fast paced, I really got into it there xD**

 **GaR and HaM will be updated very soon! I just kinda got side tracked... a lot. But I'm back in business. The uhm, writing fanfiction business that is. Anyway, leave a comment if you liked it, and tell me what you thought of this! Would be gladly appreciated :)**

 **\- dannyghost**


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